LITTLE ROCK (AP) — Cutting some Medicaid services and directing more revenue toward the program are the likeliest options for closing a shortfall of up to $400 million expected next year, Arkansas Gov. Mike Beebe said Tuesday.

Beebe stopped short of completely ruling out raising taxes as an option for addressing the shortfall that state officials say will hit in the budget year that begins July 1, 2013, but the Democratic governor said it’s not something he’s considering right now.

“If you’re really asking me what’s likely to happen, I think you’re looking at two things: One, some degree of cutback in some services and/or some rededication or dedication of some natural growth in our revenue figures toward Medicaid so that they end up getting more of the existing pie,” Beebe said in an interview broadcast live on the Talk Business website. Beebe said both of those options would depend on the growth in the state’s revenues and the needs for the state’s public schools.

When asked about the possibility of tax increases, Beebe said: “Nobody has come in with anything specific about that. Theoretically, it’s always an option but it’s not anything that I have planned or that I’ve heard from the Legislature.”

Beebe’s comments came a day after state Human Services Director John Selig warned lawmakers that changes planned in how Medicaid pays for services — paying for “episodes” of care rather than each individual treatment — and other efforts to keep costs down won’t prevent the expected shortfall.

Medicaid is expected to be the Legislature’s top agenda item when lawmakers convene for the regular session in January.

DHS has said Medicaid faces a shortfall of between $250 million and $400 million, and Selig said Monday that the department expected to offer a more firm estimate later this year. Republican lawmakers have been skeptical of Beebe’s planned Medicaid reforms, and have vowed to find other ways to cut costs if they win control of the majority-Democrat Legislature in the November election.